Pacific Rim: Breach Assault
by ZalzabarJones
Summary: Stacker Pentecost's plan to attack the Breach called for three Jaegers. But with the fall of Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon they are one Jaeger short. The plan is continuing forward. Assault the breach, Striker Eureka in the lead, Gipsy Danger as back-up, and a third Jaeger providing long range support. But what Jaeger can it be? More importantly, who is going to pilot it?
1. Pre-Battle Prep

Mako Mori approached the commanding figure of Stacker Pentecost.

"Why did you take some of the crew off of repairing Gipsy?" she asked. "We need the two remaining Jaegers at full strength for our assault. We-"

"Miss Mori," Pentecost calmly interrupts her. "I believe I know what I am doing. My plan called for three Jaegers to attack the breach. And we are going to have three Jaegers."

He turned to look at the girl he raised.

"Trust me."

With that he walked away off to oversee the final preparations in his plan.

"Who is going to pilot the other Jaeger?" Mako called after him.

* * *

Herc Hansen had reported right to the medbay as soon as Striker Eureka had docked. Luckily his Jaeger hadn't suffered much damage so the teams could focus on getting Gipsy back to fighting strength.

But he was more concerned about his arm.

They had wanted three Jaegers for the attack, and now they had two. And Herc's arm was definitely broken. He could feel the hairline fracture.

Two Jaegers required four pilots. And he would be damned if he was going to miss this. He knew that Pentecost would want to ground him, but Herc was prepared to fight him on this.

He wasn't about to send his only son, and co-pilot, on the final assault on the Kaiju, which was most likely a suicide mission, without him.

"What can ya do Doc?" he asked at the Doctor who was examining the damaged bone.

"It is broken. I can patch you up, but I recommend that you don't pilot a Jaeger for some time," the doctor remarked.

"Fat chance of that happening. I don't care what you have to do. You are getting me back into that Jaeger. And if you don't we're all dead," Herc said.

"I can splint the arm and give you a localized painkiller. It won't last forever. You'll have only a couple of hours before you start to feel the pain again. And the more you use your arm, the worse it is going to be when you return."

"Just do it," Herc Hansen snapped.

He had already blocked out the pain. He was just trying to think about how he can pilot a Jaeger with one arm.

As the doctor went to work Herc's hot headed son walked in, "Sir? How is it going?"

Before the doctor could say anything Herc answered, "I'll be fine. You'll have to take the number one seat. My right arm is going to be a little shot."

Herc saw Chuck's eyes light up. He always wanted to sit first chair, but Herc worried about his son (not to mention his own unwillingness to give up the seat).

"You think you can handle it?" he asked.

Chuck saluted, "Yes sir."

"Good. Hurry up doc, I've got Kaiju to kill."

* * *

Mako joined Raleigh in the mess hall. They only had a couple of hours to rest while the crews went about repairing and prepping the Jaegers.

Raleigh picked at his food. He knew he should eat, but the adrenaline he felt from being back inside of Gipsy Danger hadn't quite left his system. He was too excited to eat.

He was too nervous.

Another assault on the breach.

The others didn't work. And he didn't have hope that this one would be any different.

Mako picked at her food the same way.

They didn't feel the need to say anything. They drifted with each other, were in each other's mind.

It felt like they knew each other's souls.

"You really should eat something," Raleigh remarked as he poked at his stew.

"What about you?" Mako asked back.

"Yeah…"

"Can we do this?" she asked.

Raleigh looked her in the eyes. "Yeah, we can."

But she knew what he really meant. She saw the look in his eyes.

What he meant to say was, "We don't really have a choice."

* * *

Stacker Pentecost called the entire remains of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps to the Jaeger bay.

The entire team assembled at the base of Gipsy Danger. He took a deep breath and walked through the doors. In his Jaeger pilot outfit.

The crowd turned to look at him. The Marshall is going to pilot a Jaeger.

He knew what they thought: "Is he pushing Herc Hansen out? Can he even pilot Striker?"

Mako ran up to him, looking distressed.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Getting in a Jaeger will kill you."

"And if I don't, we'll all die," he answered. "Mako, my brave girl, we are going to do this together."

Mako nodded solemnly, not trusting herself to speak.

Pentecost stepped up on Gipsy's massive foot and yelled, "Today, at the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we have chosen not to only believe in ourselves, but to believe in each other. Today we face the monsters that at our door. Today we are canceling the apocalypse!"

The crowd cheered.

"We assault the breach, we assault hell itself. Leading the charge will be the Hansens in Striker Eureka!"

More cheers. Herc was silently relieved that the Marshall wasn't grounding him because of a broken arm. Chuck was even more relieved that his dad was coming with. But neither said anything.

"And backing them up will be Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket in Gipsy Danger!"

Another round of cheering.

Mako blushed and Raleigh smiled awkwardly at the adoration.

When the crowd settled they turned back to Pentecost. He was dressed to pilot a Jaeger. But there were no other Jaeger pilots in the entire Shatterdome. There were no other functioning Jaegers.

"And I'll be backing them both up," he started. Silence filled the entire massive hall. "In Coyote Tango. By myself."


	2. On My Mark: 5, 3, and 1

_[Author's Note: So I am screwing with some of the canon of Pacific Rim, mostly because this is how I wanted it to end. So Coyote Tango didn't get destroyed in Hawaii and some other stuff. But mostly it is just a way to get Pentecost to punch giant monster's in the face with a giant robot. Please enjoy.]_

"You're insane," Raleigh said to Pentecost. "You can't pilot a Jaeger like that for that long by yourself."

Pentecost stared at Raleigh, "Don't forget that I piloted Coyote Tango by myself for a three hour fight with Onibaba."

"But the trip to the Breach has to be at least two hours plus whatever Kaiju will be waiting for us," Raleigh continued to protest.

"Are you questioning my ability to pilot a Jaeger and kill Kaiju Mr. Becket?" Pentecost asked.

"No… sir," Raleigh replied.

"There is no way we can fail," the Marshall said to the assembled Jaeger pilots. "Striker Eureka is still our best option with the warhead. But if all else fails both Gipsy Danger and Coyote Tango are nuclear powered. If we have to we can take either or both Jaegers into the Breach and blow them."

The teams nodded.

Mako had to ask, "How did you get Coyote Tango?"

"Since Japan is a small island in the Pacific, they weren't too keen on the wall project. So they were salvaging all their old Jaegers. When I told them of my plan they agreed to give me back Coyote Tango for the assault," Pentecost explained. "I had some of the teams cannibalize Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon just in case. Anymore questions?"

"No sir."

"Good, everyone to your Jaegers," Pentecost orders.

Mako and Raleigh head to Gipsy Danger, the Hansens head off to Striker Eureka, and Pentecost heads over to his old friend Coyote Tango.

* * *

Herc Hansen got one final shot of Novocain into his arm before entering Striker Eureka. He let Chuck enter first, since he was the first chair now.

"You ready for this boy?" he asked as he took the left chair.

"Ready, and willing to kill some Kaiju bastards," Chuck smiled.

They entered their places and prepared to drift.

"Nuclear device installed," the Jaeger AI told them.

"Let's do this!" Chuck said as the neural handshake commenced.

Herc felt his son's fear threatening to overwhelm his enthusiasm and passion. Chuck felt his father's pain both physical and emotional.

"Chuck…" he started. How does he even begin to tell him out loud all of the things he failed to over the years?

"Sir… Dad," Chuck said. "I'm in your head. You're in mine. I _know_."

"I feel like I should have said this out loud, so you can hear it," Herc responded. "I love you son."

"I love you too Dad," Chuck said. "Now that we did the touchy feely, shall we kick some Kaiju ass, sir?"

"Striker Eureka ready," Herc shouts over the radio.

* * *

Raleigh entered the drift and felt Yancy there waiting for him, just like always.

"Sorry Yancy," he whispered.

"It's ok little brother. Don't do anything stupid. Try not to be a hero. Any I have to say that I like the girl you've replaced me with. She's cute," he imagined, or remembered (it just strange in the drift), Yancy saying.

"I know," Raleigh sighed. He could feel himself blush, as Mako heard what was happening in his mind and blushed in response. "Sorry Mako."

She said nothing.

But Raleigh knew what she was feeling. She was trying her best to stay focused and do what needs to be done so that they can get home. And her worry about Pentecost.

"It will be ok," he lied.

"I know," she replied. "I'm ready. Are you?"

"Yeah," Raleigh said even though they both knew the answer.

Together they opened the radio and said, "Gipsy Danger ready."

* * *

"The nuke is loaded and ready," Tendo Choi tells Pentecost over the intercom. "The Hansens are already drifting and heading out."

"How is Gipsy?" Pentecost can't help but asking.

The AI voice tells Tendo that Gipsy Danger's neural handshake is commencing and holding strong.

"They are good to go," he says. "Sir, are you sure about this?"

Pentecost says nothing right away. He downs the last three anti-radiation drugs he has. He might get killed by his Jaeger, but he would be damned if he was killed by a sickness.

"The next person who asks me that is going to be fighting the Kaiju with a water pistol," he remarks calmly.

Tendo noticed he didn't answer the question. Pentecost really didn't want to answer because he wasn't sure.

"Awaiting second pilot," Coyote Tango told him.

"Single pilot override, Marshall Stacker Pentecost override code," he said as he punched in the code to let him go it alone.

The computer was strangely silent for a moment, "Awaiting control override authorization."

Tendo hesitated for a second. But he pushed the button. The Marshall knew what he was doing… Right?

Pentecost took a deep breath and drifted with his Jaeger. Good old Mark 1, Coyote Tango. He could feel the warm pulsing of the nuclear reactor beneath his feet. He felt at home.

For a moment he felt the familiar presence of his old co-pilot, Tamsin Sevier. She died years ago from the same cancer that was trying to take Pentecost even then.

He knew that the redhead would be there with him, in the drift, for the final battle. Just like it should have been.

Pentecost said nothing for a moment.

"Coyote Tango, ready."

* * *

In mission control Tendo represses a nervous shiver. "Jaegers ready to go. Transport the teams to the Breach."

Three Jaeger teams. One Mark 5, one recently re-commissioned Mark 3, and a Mark 1 out of the storage closet that barely had any time to get overhauled. The Japanese did build it, but the teams at the Shatterdome didn't time to go over it.

He watched the old Mark 1 be pulled out of the bay. A massive metal titan with two massive mortar cannons attached to the back, the forearms at least got replaced with the updated plasma cannons. But with the onset of a Category Five Kaiju on the horizon, will a moderately updated Mark 1 Jaeger be enough to stand up?

He hoped so.

The Jaegers have left the Shatterdome.

Why did it feel like none of them would return?


	3. The Breach

_[Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long. I've got some other stuff in the pipeline trying to work out. And I'm not to happy with this chapter, it is too short... Ah well...]_

The helicopters deposited all three Jaegers at farthest point. Striker Eureka immediately started walking forward as soon as it touched the water, with Gipsy Danger following at its heels.

Pentecost was having a difficult time piloting his old Jaeger solo. It had been… years. He remembered how everything worked, where it was, and how to do it. But it seemed that time had not been kind to him, or Coyote Tango.

It felt like his left side was numb. And then there was the resistance from the water.

"I know we're in the fastest Jaeger ever built, but that Mark 1 sure is slow. How did you ever beat any Kaiju in that hunk of junk, sir?" Chuck Hansen asked over the intercom.

Pentecost didn't bother wasting the energy to hell at him, besides Herc was probably already scolding his son. Coyote required his full attention. I could feel the blood starting to drip out of his nose. The strain was going to kill him.

But he refused to give in before the Breach was closed.

"Gipsy Danger's hatches and seals closed," Mako chimed in over radio.

Pentecost almost forgot. Simply walking took all of his effort. The fight that was sure to happen was going to be bad.

"Seal all hatches," Pentecost croaked to the computer.

"Already done," the AI informed him.

Thank god for small favors.

Like an AI that knew what it was it need to do.

Was it just him, or did the piloting of Coyote Tango seem to get easier? Was the AI helping him out more than usual? Or maybe his mind was just readjusting to life inside a Jaeger.

"We have activity at the Breach," Tendo said suddenly. "Another double event. Two Cat IV Kaiju, Scunner and Raiju."

"Only two?" Raleigh asked.

Pentecost silently agreed. Two Kaiju, even Category IV, seemed easy enough for three Jaegers to take out.

"We've approached the drop off!" Herc said over the coms as Striker Eureka jumped down towards the Breach.

"Gipsy Danger, right behind you," Raleigh said.

Pentecost was the last one. He didn't follow them.

He marveled at the Breach.

It had been described as a throat, but to him it looked more like a wound. A rip in the flesh of his world, ready to spill its guts out into the deep.

It was horrifying. And strangely beautiful at the same time.

"I can't see any Kaiju," Raleigh said. "Nothing on radar either."

"They are moving too fast," Tendo replied.

Pentecost parked Coyote Tango on the high ground, and the AI automatically prepped his twin mortar cannons.

"I'll cover you two," he said while he waited for the Kaiju to appear.

"We are heading for the Breach," Chuck said. "We can end this now!"

"No! No no no! Don't do that!" a new voice screamed over the radio.

"Geiszler, what do you mean?" Herc said.

"The Breach will only let Kaiju through!" he yelled. "It scans Kaiju DNA and lets them pass. Anything not a Kaiju will be shunted off like before!"

"It is like a grocery store scanner," Gottlieb said. "You have to fool it into thinking you're a Kaiju in order to pass.

"Shit!" Chuck said. "How are we supposed-"

He was interrupted by a charging Scunner. The Kaiju rammed into Striker Eureka, hitting the Jaeger in the arm severely damaging it.

Pentecost took aim from atop the cliff and fired a single round at the Kaiju. Unfortunately it had plenty of time to move and dodge the round before swimming away.

"Distance and time lag adjusted for firing," Coyote Tango responded to the question Pentecost hadn't asked yet.

"Striker! Behind you!" Mako called as Scunner came up behind it.

Coyote Tango saw the Kaiju moving in for the attack and fired. The massive round exploded near the Kaiju's head causing it to divert off its path. Which took it straight towards Gipsy Danger.

Coyote Tango continued to try and shoot the large category IV but it moved too quickly.

Mako activated one of Gipsy's swords and the Jaeger made a swipe at the passing Kaiju. With a blow that seemed more luck than anything, Gipsy Danger ripped off Scunner's head in one go.

"Well that was easy," Raleigh said.

"Where's the other one?" Herc said nervously.

A loud howl erupted from the depths of the ocean. One that could even be heard underwater and through the Jaeger's protective hulls.

"It looks like there is something else coming through the Breach," Tendo said.

"How big?" Raleigh asked.

His question was met with silence.

"How big?" he asked again.

"If we are still using the category system this would be a Cat V," Tendo replied. "But only because we haven't seen another Category V…'

"What are you saying?" Herc yelled.

"The second stage…" Newton breathed. "This isn't your garden variety Kaiju. This is the exterminator. Made for one reason: killing Jaegers."

"Son of a bitch," Pentecost muttered.

The Breach convulsed, and widened.

The horrible wound at the bottom of the ocean opened up. The energy poured out of it, like blood and fluids out of an eviscerated body.

Water around it started to boil. It brightened and out of the Breach appeared a Kaiju arm. Another three armed hand followed it. As the massive monster pulled itself into our universe.

"Codename: Slattern," Tendo announced as the four armed Kaiju emerged, and its tentacle tail propelled it through the water.

"Three on two?" Chuck said. "I think we can take 'em."


	4. Gipsy Danger

_[Author's Note: Another short one. I'm sorry. I don't think I write combat very well so this one was a struggle. But I'm hoping that since I kept this short, I can quickly move on to the next chapter and get that up ASAP. Sorry about the delay between chapters. Real life gets in the way. I'll have the next one ready as soon as I can.]_

"Lock on Slattern and open fire," Pentecost said. Coyote Tango's cannons turned on the large Category V and started firing away.

Only a couple of rounds got off before the other Kaiju, attacked from behind.

The alligator looking monster hit Coyote Tango from behind. It ripped off one of the mortar cannon and tried to rip off the other, but the Jaeger fell off the drop off.

Raiju took off to attack the next biggest threat: Gipsy Danger.

Gipsy Danger was trying to make its way over to Striker Eureka to help with Slattern, but Raiju got to it first.

Raiju's massive jaws clamped around Gipsy Danger's right arm before Pentecost had a chance to warn them.

Coyote Tango righted itself and with its one functioning cannon, continued to shoot Slattern.

"Empty the clip," Pentecost said as he laboriously started running to help out Raleigh and Mako.

The AI targeted a fired the cannon with a continuous rhythm.

Striker Eureka, and the Hansens, were doing their best against the large Kaiju. Their speed helped them against the massive monster, but the multiarmed and tentacled monster was powerhouse. Each blow from the Cat V was like being hit by an asteroid.

And Raiju had Gipsy Danger's arm in its mouth.

"Elbow rocket!" yelled Raleigh as the team fired the rocket into the Kaiju's mouth.

A scream of pain erupted from Raiju as it let go of Gipsy Danger's now crippled arm. Raleigh didn't have time to appreciate the irony of now having his right arm crippled. Mako took the lead temporarily with the left arm.

The rocket propelled Gipsy Danger around to face Raiju as it upper cut the alligator in the face.

The Kaiju retreated, and Coyote Tango was still too far away to help. The drop off was a lot farther than it looked. But it kept pelting the massive Category V Slattern with mortars from the distance.

Raiju charged at the Gipsy again. Mako punched Raiju in the face, sending the monster to the ocean floor. The Kaiju snapped at the Jaeger's legs and ripped part of the structure apart.

Mako activated the sword in the one functioning arm Gipsy Danger had left. The sword plunged into the shoulder of the Kaiju. The pain caused it to release the limb as it tried to struggle out from underneath the blade.

"Let's burn this guy," Raleigh said. Mako agreed, but was inside Raleigh's head and didn't understand his need to say what he wanted them to do out loud. She preferred to focus on killing the Kaiju.

The pair tried to push Raiju into one of the geothermal heating vents that littered the ocean floor. But the damaged leg made it slow going, and the Kaiju was trashing about. Its massive tail smacked Gipsy Danger in the back and finally freed itself.

The alligator Kaiju jumped on the back of the Jaeger. Gipsy Danger's head got in between Raiju's massive jaws, and the monster's claws tried to tear apart the heavy metal armor encasing the Jaeger's power core.

"We need to activate the jump jets!" Raleigh said.

They fired the jets which burned up the Kaiju's underbelly.

Raiju let go of Gipsy Danger. The Jaeger got almost a quarter mile away from its enemy, but the damage was done.

The cockpit of the Jaeger was starting to leak. The hull damage was extensive. There was water coming in all over the Jaeger. With one leg crippled, and one arm completely useless, Gipsy Danger was going to have a hard time fighting the Category IV Kaiju before it, not to mention the Category V that was currently engaged with Striker Eureka.

Raiju was prepared to charge at Gipsy, when Coyote Tango's last mortar round exploded at the Kaiju's head.

Coyote Tango ejected the mortar cannon off the base and took off with new speed. It hit Raiju with all the force of a sprinting giant robot.

The monster surveyed its opponents. A crippled Jaeger, and an out dated Mark 1. Instead of engaging the two in combat, it swam off to attack Striker Eureka.

Within a few seconds of Raiju entering the Striker Eureka/Slattern fight, Herc Hansen said, "We have to do it."

"We have to set off the nuke!"


	5. Striker Eureka

_[Author's Note: It may be short, but I did promise another one. This little story of mine should be wrapping up soon. One or two more chapters. Enjoy.]_

While Gipsy Danger was engaged in battle with Raiju, Striker Eureka was dealing with the first ever Category V Kaiju: Slattern.

It was easily twice the size of the Jaeger, if not more.

But the Hansens were both confident in their abilities. And besides, they were basically on top of the Breach. They just needed to force the Kaiju back in and shove the nuke down its throat.

Sure the Kaiju was big, but being so large, it was slow. In that respect, Striker Eureka had the advantage.

As soon as Slattern ripped its way through the Breach, Coyote Tango began shooting at it. Striker Eureka followed suit and unleashed all of the missiles it had stored in its chest.

All of the impacts seemed to moderately annoy the Kaiju as it started to fight with Striker.

It swung with one of its massive claws, but Striker managed to dodge. Unfortunately the tentacle tail smashed into the metal Jaeger instead.

The damage was a lot less than it would have been otherwise. But the Hansens felt like they were hit by an asteroid or the moon.

"Kill it with bug bites," thought Herc. Even though his arm was broken, he still managed to do what he needed to do with it. But every impact and the tiny bit of pain from the neural feedback was agonizing. He couldn't tell if it was because the painkillers were wearing off or because it really did hurt that much.

Striker Eureka deployed both of its arm based swords. The father-son team elected for a conservative style. They hardly ever attacked Slattern. Instead they waited for it to attack them, dodge the blow, and cut it wherever they could.

They got a lot of little cuts up and down the four massive arms of the Kaiju, which began leaking the toxic blue blood everywhere.

Things turned south for the Hansens when Slattern got in a lucky blow. The punch dented the front of the Jaeger, and both pilots were thrown back.

Slattern saw an opening and went in for the assault. It wrapped up the Jaeger in its tentacles and tried to crush Striker into oblivion.

"Time to take a play from Gipsy," Chuck said.

His father only grunted in reply.

They both vented as much coolant as possible. Slattern cried in pain as parts of its tail got flash frozen.

Striker returned the favor by cutting off several of the tentacles.

The fighting was too quick and intense for the Jaeger pilots to notice that Coyote's long range support had stopped.

The Kaiju had several large wounds from the repeated attacks, and dozens of still bleeding cuts from Striker.

Just as Chuck thought they were going to pull it off, Raiju attacked them from behind. The attack knocked Striker off balance, but the Hansens recovered enough to throw Raiju off the Jaeger.

But they freed themselves only to have Slattern bite their Jaeger's shoulder. The massive Category V Kaiju almost had half their torso in its mouth, as well as most of the head.

They couldn't hit anything with their left arm, since it was pinned by the shoulder. So they stabbed Slattern several times in the neck and face with their right arm blade.

The Kaiju hardly seemed to notice.

"Escape pods offline," the AI said with just a hint of sadness.

One of the Kaiju's massive arms reached up to Striker's legs to try and rip the Jaeger in half.

The metal groaned and protested.

"I think we have only one choice," Herc said.

Chuck looked at his father. He knew what he was thinking. But it was another to say it out loud.

"Yeah…"

"We have to clear the way."

"Let's do it," Chuck said with a forced smile. "Let's be the first and only ones to take out a Category V."

"We have to do it," Herc said over the radio. "We have to set off the nuke!"

The two pilots started the nuclear device's countdown.

"You know son, out of all the lives I've fought to save, your's is the only one that truly mattered to me," Herc said.

Chuck didn't know what to say. "Thanks dad. It's been an honor serving with you."

Water started pouring into the cabin.

Striker Eureka was torn in half by the massive Kaiju.

And the bomb went off.


	6. Coyote Tango

The blast ripped apart Raiju, and Slattern was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's a Kaiju corpse?" Pentecost asked once the ocean flooded back into place.

"I see one over here," Raleigh replied when he spied the Scunner corpse not too far away from him.

"Good," Pentecost said as he started to move over towards it. "I'll take it into the Breach and detonate. You wait out here. If anything goes wrong, you can attempt it."

He could feel the blood pouring out of his nose. Either from the mental exhaustion of solo-ing his Jaeger or from the background radiation slowly killing him. Maybe it was both.

"Sir…" Mako started.

"Miss Mori, this is how it has to be," Pentecost said.

Without the extra weight of his two cannons, he found that Coyote Tango was moving faster. Not as fast as he would have liked, not as fast as the Jaeger could move with two pilots. But it would have to do.

"Teacher…" Mako tried again.

But this time she was interrupted by a primal roar.

Slattern was still alive.

It swam into the horrifying light of the Breach.

The two Jaegers could see it was wounded. Kaiju Blue leaked out of its numerous wounds, and it was severely burned over all of its body.

"What do we do now?" Raleigh asked.

"If we bring Slattern into the Breach with us, we can use it to bypass the scanner and blow the Breach then. Odds are in our favor," the Coyote Tango AI suggested.

Pentecost thought for a moment. He didn't remember his AI being this chatty.

Or this helpful.

But the plan made sense.

And he knew how to do it.

"I'm taking that thing down with me," he said. "If I fail, then you two can take the corpse with you and try again."

"What are you thinking?" Raleigh asked.

"I have a plan," Pentecost said.

Mako suddenly said something in Japanese.

Pentecost smiled briefly before responding in kind.

"I'll miss you," he said.

"Powering up Plasma Cannon," Coyote Tango said.

The Jaeger started sprinting towards the massive Kaiju that hovered over the Breach like a strange, other-worldly gargoyle.

Coyote Tango's brand new, left arm plasma cannon activated. The heat and energy from it started to boil the water around it.

* * *

In the Command Center in the Shatterdome, Tendo swore.

"What? What is it?" Newt asked. All of these readouts, and computer screens were completely foreign to him.

"Coyote Tango… Pentecost… These readings are off the charts," Tendo responded as he tried to refresh the readings only to see them remain the same.

"So?"

"It is like he is piloting in tandem with someone…"

"But that's not possible," Gottlieb said.

Tendo looked over the readings, "There is no way that a solo pilot can pull these numbers. It is actually impossible!"

"Unless…" Gottlieb whispered. "No… You didn't… Did you?"

Newt was lost. "Did what?!"

Gottlieb answered, "Did you give the Jaegers full, self-aware, _true_ artificial intelligence?"

"I didn't build the damn thing!" Tendo said. "But if the Coyote Tango AI is an actual AI then… Pentecost actually is the Jaeger…"

"That's good isn't it?" Newt asked. "The neural strain won't kill him now. And he can fight better."

"It is fine for now," Gottlieb responded, "but long term… This could be problematic later."

"We can worry about it when the Breach is closed and the Kaiju aren't knocking at our doorstep!" Tendo said, and then more quietly, almost to himself, he added, "Come on sir, you can do it."

* * *

At the Breach, Coyote Tango leapt up to meet Slattern above the glowing trans-dimensional oozing wound.

With one hand, Pentecost grabbed onto the Kaiju's head and put the plasma cannon right up to its chest.

He didn't have to say anything for the Jaeger to start firing the plasma rounds into the Kaiju. Or for the jump jets to fire downward and bring the pair towards the Breach. He merely had to think it, and the Jaeger preformed. It was as if he was the Jaeger.

Each plasma round ripped through the Kaiju's flesh and exposed the poisonous blue insides. With each round fired, Coyote Tango pushed its arm further into Slattern's chest cavity before firing another round.

Its screams were terrifying.

With the remaining three arms it had that still worked it tried to desperately claw at Coyote Tango. In another circumstance it would have been catastrophic damage, but it wasn't planning on coming back.

The fighting pair descended slowly towards the Breach. Once Slattern realized what was happening, it tried to divert the course enough so they would miss the Breach.

Then it got a solid grip on Coyote Tango and tried to pull it off, but the Jaeger was inside its chest. Coyote Tango fired its last round and grabbed on to the Kaiju's spine from within.

The Kaiju screamed.

With its free hand Coyote Tango managed to defend against a few blows, but it was still descending too slowly. Slattern was going to push it off course, out of the Breach. And if it managed to kill Coyote Tango before it could detonate, only Gipsy Danger would be left with the one chance to close the Breach.

Pentecost gritted his teeth and tried to force the Kaiju down, back to whence it came.

But he had little luck.

Slattern was built to fight underwater. Jaegers were not.

That's when the crippled Gipsy Danger entered the fray.

Mako and Raleigh had used their own jets and the glass floor (caused by the extreme heat from the nuke turning the sandy floor to glass) to slide their Jaeger to the Breach and the combat.

Gipsy impaled Slattern just behind the head with its sword, and combined its jets with Coyote Tango's to force all three bodies into the disgusting opening of the Breach.

"What are you doing?" Pentecost groaned.

He felt each individual attack by the Kaiju. Not in the electrical or physical feedback. He felt it rip his flesh. He could feel the soft, squishy insides of Slattern against his left hand.

"Protecting you," Mako replied.

Slattern put one claw on Coyote Tango's head, in a last second of life attempt to kill its pilot.

"You two need to get out of here now!" Pentecost yelled.

The trio had passed into the Breach. It was all Technicolor and neon. They were entering another universe.

"No! We can help!" Raleigh tried to argue.

"No. From here, I've got this," Pentecost said. "Mako, you have to take care of Raleigh. We both know he can't take care of himself. It has been an honor to fight alongside you Miss Mori. You are a fine Jaeger pilot. Perhaps the best I've ever known."

"The honor has been mine," Mako replied between tears.

"Now don't make me order you two to evacuate," he said.

No one could think of anything else to say. So with great reluctance Raleigh and Mako ejected out of Gipsy Danger.

Pentecost watched them go for a moment. He could feel death starting to press in on him. His mind couldn't take it, nor could his body.

"Activate nuclear overload," he croaked.

The Coyote Tango AI responded, "Unable. Manual override required. Go now. I will walk you through it."

Pentecost merely nodded.

He disconnected from his Jaeger and stumbled his way into the containment core.

Coyote Tango deflected a couple of blows from Slattern, as it tried to kill the Jaeger before it died.

The Jaeger managed to get a couple of blows in before the Kaiju expired.

Pentecost managed to get to the core and led by the AI managed to initiate the nuclear overload.

"Nuclear overload countdown begun," Coyote Tango told Pentecost as he returned to the cockpit. "It was nice to have you as the pilot."

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," Pentecost said.

The pilotless Jaeger, dead Kaiju, and melting down Jaeger made it through the Breach and into the Anteverse.

"Wow, this place is fucking ugly," Pentecost remarked.

"Agreed," Coyote Tango responded.

The Jaeger extended a single hand as the countdown entered single digits. And it extended a solitary finger, the middle one, as the countdown hit zero.

The nuclear reactor in the Mark 1 Jaeger exploded.

When the reactor of the other Jaeger got caught in the explosion, it overloaded as well.

The cascading nuclear explosion ripped apart the Breach.

The Shatterdome celebrated as they sent out the rescue copters for the two surviving Jaeger pilots.

The clock was turned off.

_[Author's Note: Well that's it. Story's done. I was kind of considering an epilogue, but this is my alternate movie ending so I figured I should end it where the movie ended. I have a couple of thoughts about another story set in Pacific Rim, but I have some other projects to work on. Most notably projects that will earn me money._

_But thanks to everyone that read this through till the end, I appreciate your time and that you thought I was deserving of it._

_And an extra special thanks to everyone who reviewed, you are wonderful people and gave me the drive to finish this thing, for better or worse._

_And remember, you can always find me in the drift.]_


End file.
